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Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 1.5.27
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A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
TEXT 27
- tasmiṁs tadā labdha-rucer mahā-mate
- priyaśravasy askhalitā matir mama
- yayāham etat sad-asat sva-māyayā
- paśye mayi brahmaṇi kalpitaṁ pare
tasminit being so — it being so; tadāat that time — at that time; labdhaachieved — achieved; ruceḥtaste — taste; mahāO great sage-mateO great sage — O great sage; priyaśravasiupon the Lord — upon the Lord; askhalitāuninterrupted attention matiḥuninterrupted attention — uninterrupted attention; mamamine — mine; yayāby which — by which; ahamI — I; etatall these — all these; satgross and subtle-asatgross and subtle — gross and subtle; svaone's own ignorance-māyayāone's own ignorance — one's own ignorance; paśyesee — see; mayiin me — in me; brahmaṇithe Supreme — the Supreme; kalpitamis accepted — is accepted; parein the Transcendence — in the Transcendence.
O great sage, as soon as I got a taste for the Personality of Godhead, my attention to hear of the Lord was unflinching. And as my taste developed, I could realize that it was only in my ignorance that I had accepted gross and subtle coverings, for both the Lord and I are transcendental.
Ignorance in material existence is compared to darkness, and in all Vedic literatures the Personality of Godhead is compared to the sun. Wherever there is light there cannot be darkness. Hearing of the Lord's pastimes is itself transcendental association with the Lord because there is no difference between the Lord and His transcendental pastimes. To become associated with the supreme light is to dissipate all ignorance. By ignorance only, the conditioned soul wrongly thinks that both he and the Lord are products of material nature. But in fact the Personality of Godhead and the living beings are transcendental, and they have nothing to do with the material nature. When ignorance is removed and it is perfectly realized that there is nothing existing without the Personality of Godhead, then nescience is removed. Since the gross and subtle bodies are emanations from the Personality of Godhead, the knowledge of light permits one to engage both of them in the service of the Lord. The gross body should be engaged in acts of rendering service to the Lord (as in bringing water, cleansing the temple or making obeisances, etc.). The path of arcanā, or worshiping the Lord in the temple, involves engaging one's gross body in the service of the Lord. Similarly, the subtle mind should be engaged in hearing the transcendental pastimes of the Lord, thinking about them, chanting His name, etc. All such activities are transcendental. None of the gross or subtle senses should otherwise be engaged. Such realization of transcendental activities is made possible by many, many years of apprenticeship in the devotional service, but simply attraction of love for the Personality of Godhead, as it was developed in Nārada Muni, by hearing, is highly effective.